It was Thursday, August 19, 2004, and after months of anticipation, trading of Google stock would finally begin this morning on the NASDAQ. Google offered a total of 19,605,052 Class A shares using a "modified" Dutch auction initial public offering (IPO), including 14,142,135 floated by Google and 5,462,917 from existing stockholders, at a price range of $85-$95 per share. In this case, students are charged with advising ReidCourt LLC as to whether it should bid to purchase Google shares in the IPO, and if so, at what price(s).

Professor Hodrick is known for her ground-breaking research on the corporate financial decisions made by firms, with a particular interest in share repurchases and dividends, takeovers, and equity offerings. In recognition, she has earned the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, a Smith Breeden Prize for Distinguished Paper in the Journal of Finance, the Western Finance Association's Trefftzs Award, a Roger F. Murray Award...